(Reuters) – British baker and food-to-go retailer Greggs Plc reported a modest 2.5% growth in fourth-quarter like-for-like sales on Thursday, as tight-pursed Christmas shoppers indulged in fewer Festive Bakes, sausage rolls, and gingerbread lattes.
The result for the quarter ended December, below an earlier expectation of a more than 5% rise, highlights how weak economic outlook cast a gloom over holiday spending with even Greggs, which has been resilient through Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, not impervious to shaky consumer confidence.
“Trading performance reflected a well-publicised more challenging market backdrop in the second half of 2024,” the company said.
Greggs, famous for its sausage rolls, steak bakes and vegan alternatives, saw annual sales top 2 billion pounds ($2.46 billion) for the first time, though the 11.3% rise missed analysts’ average estimates of 12.2%, according to LSEG data.
The more than 80-year-old company, which has more than 2,500 outlets in the UK, warned that higher employment costs will lead to further cost inflation in 2025, but backed its growth plan as it targets opening between 140 and 150 net new shops this year.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)